This fall, Roger Williams University School of Law will become one of just a handful of law schools nationwide to introduce a new required course on the subject of “Race & the Foundations of American Law” to its core legal curriculum. Of those schools, RWU Law is one of the first to have already piloted its course – to excellent student reviews – as a spring elective. The course is designed…
Type: Article
Type: Faculty & Staff Profile
Suzanne Harrington-Steppen is the Associate Director of Pro Bono Programs and the Director of Summer Public Interest Externship Program. Suzanne received a B.A. in Political Science from Boston College and a J.D. from City University of New York School of Law. Prior to joining the Law School as the Project Coordinator for the Pro Bono Collaborative, Suzanne completed a two-year federal clerkship…, Books, Integrating Doctrine and Diversity: Inclusion and Equity in the Law School Classroom, (Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, 2021)(with Nicole Dyszlewski, Raquel J. Gabriel, Anna Russell, and Genevieve B. Tung), Articles, Learning from Millennials in the Legal Workspace, , Rhode Island Bar Journal, Mar./Apr. 2019, at 23 (with Nicole P. Dyszlewski), Don’t Do It Alone: A Community-Based, Collaborative Approach to Pro Bono, , 23 Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, 323 (2010) (co-authored with Laurie Barron, et al.)
Type: Faculty & Staff Profile
Keynote Address: Wednesday, February 9, 2022, 4:00 PM ET Zoom Webinar, Angela Winfield, is chief diversity officer for the Law School Admission Council. In this role, she provides leadership, vision, energy, and a unified philosophy to LSAC’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts on behalf of member law schools and the students who seek a career in law. Prior to her current position, Winfield was associate vice president for inclusion and workforce diversity at Cornell University…, This is a virtual event., Register Here Learn More About Speaker Angela Winfield Here Generously supported by Nixon Peabody, LLP Nixon Peabody logo, Rhode Island MCLE Credit, This program has been approved for one (1) CLE hour in Rhode Island., Special Accommodations, Persons who, because of a special need or condition, would like to request an accommodation for an event should contact the Office of Programs & Events, as soon as possible, but no later than 72 hours before the event, so that appropriate arrangements can be made. lawevents@rwu.edu
Type: Event
Professor and former Roger Williams University School of Law Dean David A. Logan enjoyed a “rock-star moment” on the final day of the Supreme Court’s term, completed last Friday as the long Independence Day weekend began. In an 11-page dissent to the Court’s denial of certiorari in, Berisha v. Lawson, , Justice Neil M. Gorsuch argued that the court should have heard a challenge to its landmark 1964 holding in, New York Times v. Sullivan., His opinion relied heavily on Logan’s recent law review article,, Rescuing Our Democracy by Rethinking New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, , 81 OHIO ST. L. J. 759 (2020), citing it 16 times. The upshot, to quote Gorsuch quoting Logan, is that “‘the distribution of disinformation’—which ‘costs almost nothing to generate’—has become a ‘profitable’ business while ‘the economic model that supported reporters, fact-checking, and editorial oversight’ has ‘deeply erod[ed].’” It is therefore time, according to Gorsuch (and Logan) to rethink, New York Times v. Sullivan, and our current approach to defamation law. As Logan writes, “with more than half a century of perspective, it is now clear that the Court’s constraints on defamation law have facilitated a miasma of misinformation that harms democracy by making it more difficult for citizens to become informed voters. The time has come to ask a once heretical question: ‘What if, New York Times, got it wrong?’” “We all strive to make a difference in our scholarship, teaching, and service—and in our scholarship we seek to critique and improve the law,” said RWU Law Dean Gregory Bowman. “I’m proud to be David’s colleague, and I celebrate his scholarly impact on this centrally important legal issue.” “ Needless to say, I am personally thrilled and professionally honored, ” Logan commented…
Type: Article
It’s summer time in Rhode Island and the Legal Beagle is ready to hit the beach with a picnic, iced coffee, and a beach chair! The Beagle may be found in said chair, in a few inches of water with a legal thriller in hand. Rhode Island’s nickname is the Ocean State--there are over 400 miles of coastline on Narragansett Bay. With all that coastline comes a lot of beaches and the “best” beach is a…
Type: Article
Type: Faculty & Staff Profile
Type: Basic Page
On September 10, 2019, RWU Law dedicated a classroom to Dorothy R. Crockett, a Black woman from Providence who became, in 1932, the 7th woman ever admitted to the Rhode Island Bar. The dedication ceremony featured a powerful keynote by 1st the Honorable Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (who this July became an RWU Law Board member), as well as remarks from…
Type: Basic Page
In April 2019, RWU Law honored the first 176 women to join the state’s bar, in an event that drew an overflow crowd celebrating the massive strides made since those early days – while recognizing the work still to be done. A plaque, prominently mounted in the law school’s second-floor Atrium, includes a listing of all known First Women “and others unknown,” which was painstakingly compiled by RWU…, “Roger Williams University School of Law honors the pioneering First Women of the Rhode Island Bar (1920 to 1979). Their efforts helped establish the rightful place of women in the legal profession and a foundation upon which a more fully inclusive legal profession can be built.”, The plaque was officially unveiled by Judith E. Hodge, who was admitted to the bar in 1965. Hodge was the earliest bar admittee (23rd of 176) of the First Women attending the event. “It’s been obvious from the start [of the project] that this issue has resonated with many, many people,” Professor Emily Sack noted in her introduction to the ceremony. “This is truly a powerful moment for our legal…
Type: Basic Page
